Let me tell you about one of my clients. Every month, she would have debilitating migraines.
She would call out of work, close herself in her dark bedroom, and wait for it to pass. They were so bad that anything touching her face made her feel like her whole head was going to explode.
As we dove into what was going on, we started connecting the dots. These migraines only happened in her luteal phase, when she was about to start her period.
Many women struggle with headaches and migraines in their luteal phase, right before their period starts. So why do they happen and how, if you are one of the women who does struggle with headaches and migraines in your luteal phase, can you prevent them from taking more of your life every month?
Why do you get headaches and migraines in your luteal phase?
After you ovulate, if you don’t become pregnant, your estrogen levels begin to decrease to prepare for your uterine lining to shed.
This fluctuation with your estrogen can impact your blood vessels and your serotonin levels, leading to headaches and menstrual migraines.
There are 5 things you can do to help prevent your migraines and headaches
Eat magnesium-rich food
Magnesium seems to be the best kept secret to reducing a lot of symptoms, and helping prevent headaches and migraines is one of them.
Most women are deficient in magnesium, but especially the second half of your cycle, it’s important to have magnesium if you have migraines and headaches brought on by your hormonal fluctuations.
Enjoy foods like: bananas, avocados, spinach, almonds, dark chocolate, leafy greens and more. Or consider supplementing with magnesium.
Stay hydrated
I know you’re sitting here like, “duh!” But it’s a good reminder to stay hydrated. When you are dehydrated, it will trigger headaches.
Aim to have half your body weight in ounces of water per day. If you workout, live at high altitude, are a sweaty person, or it’s hot out, you may need a little more than half your body weight in ounces as well.
Adding in electrolytes to your water once a day can also help with hydration.
Limit alcohol and processed foods
Alcohol and processed foods can trigger migraines. In fact, when my client started taking out alcohol, she experienced less migraines.
Alcohol and processed foods contain triggers like histamines, nitrates, nitrites, and sulfites that impact your blood vessels and can bring on your migraines and headaches.
Though you don’t need to follow an all or nothing approach, you can have alcohol and processed foods in moderation after you ovulate to make sure you’re managing your headaches and migraines. It’s important for you to find your triggers and what works best for your body.
Peppermint and lavender oil on your temples
If you feel a migraine or headache coming on, using peppermint oil or lavender oil on your temples can help ease the pain.
Peppermint oil helps increase blood flow and causes a cooling effect, while lavender oil has a calming effect and can improve your sleep.
Get adequate sleep
Headaches and migraines can be triggered when you are not getting enough good sleep or when you are stressed, which ultimately impacts your sleep.
Getting 7 to 9 hours of restful sleep per night, especially the second half of your cycle, will help prevent your headaches and migraines.
What’s next?
While you are trying out these methods, keep track of what’s working vs what’s not.
If you have a migraine, what did you eat around it? Where’s your stress level? How was your sleep? Were you hydrated or not?
When you keep track, you can start seeing trends that are triggering your migraines and headaches around your luteal phase.
And if you are still struggling with them, do not hesitate to make an appointment with your doctor to discuss further testing and a more customized approach.
